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• July 23 1997 <br /> To: City of Elk River <br /> Our address is 1918 Vale Ave. Elk River MN. 55330. We have lived in the city of <br /> Elk River for 4 years now. Four years ago when we purchased our home it was large <br /> enough at the time. We now have two children, one boy and one girl which at this time <br /> both share a bedroom together. Which could create a potential problem. Our house is <br /> small a rambler with 2 bedroom 1 bathroom and no basement, plus a two car garage.It's <br /> located on a large corner lot with house sitting on the north half of the lot. (See attached <br /> certificate of survey) for layout details. We have looked into relocating into a larger <br /> home, but financially this is not an option for us. We've decided that the Elk River is <br /> community were we would like to raise our kids and keep our family. <br /> After meeting with some contractors, builders and neighbors that have already <br /> added on to there homes next to ours. So we've looked in the direction of adding a <br /> addition on to the existing home. The way our home sits on the existing lot our only <br /> option is to add on to the south which is a large open lot at this time. The Idea of adding <br /> on to any other parts of the house would violate all city codes and set backs. After <br /> explaining our only option with friends that are architect and contractors we been advised <br /> • to add on the existing garage. <br /> By granting us a 10 foot variance on the south side of our lot, this would allow us <br /> to add a large enough 2 car garage on to the existing garage and turn our existing garage <br /> into a bedroom and family room. Our plan show we only need 7 ft but with this corner of <br /> the garage being the only part of the addition that needs a variance. A 10 foot variance <br /> would give us leeway when figuring out the angle and layout that's best for the over all <br /> appearance, architectural design and cost of our addition. <br /> Without a variance for this size addition we would not have adequate room for our <br /> family. Making our addition smaller, would leave us with only a one car garage which <br /> gives us less garage space than we already have, or less house space than we need. This <br /> also limits us from the design and structural layout. Which effects cost and later resale <br /> value of all the surrounding homes. <br /> With to small of a addition chances of other objects that might not fit in a one car garage <br /> could end up being stored or left outside, which might become and eye full for some of <br /> our neighbors and decreasing the value of other home's in the area. We feel that by <br /> granting us a variance would give us enough space and allow us to upgrade our home to <br /> equal the value of the other homes in the neighborhood that have already added on. This <br /> also adds value to other homes in the area without putting our family in a tuff finical <br /> situation. Thank you for your time and consideration for our variance. <br /> Respectfully <br /> Mark&Penny Leadens <br /> II <br />